Gaga sat down with the "GMA" hosts to explain why she wanted to pay homage to Oz, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

"I think it really is an explanation, in a way, for my entire career so far, even with the VMAs performance and then the transformations that were happening today," she said.

"It's like my way of saying all of these outfits and all of these wigs that I have been changing in all of these years, this is my way of assimilating and this is my way of surviving. This is my way of getting to Oz, of getting to Oz to have all my dreams come true."

"Applause" is the first single off Gaga's upcoming album "ARTPOP," due out Nov. 11.